Abrader or polisher for automobile bodies



June 13, 1933. J. VICIC 7 3, 7

ABRADER OR POLISHER FOR AUTOMOBILE BODIES Filed Feb. 25, 1932 2Sheets-Sheet 1 /5 i [Iv ii a mwwm Join: Vieic June 13, 1933. i 1,913,574

ABRADER 0R POLISHER FOR AUTOMOBILE BODIES 7 Filed Feb. 25, 1932 2Sheets-Sheet 2 1 x4 A} 4 T L I l\ Y WI 1) T.

I 5 i I $2 g; I. I. in! 51 r" 7 T 5' I I I :m A I /Z] Patented June'l3,1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE worm were, or cannon, mew imxzco menus.on rot-ism ron acrouomm nonms Application filed February 25, 1982.Serial No. 595,171.

provide a sander of this character which is up any sag therein.

very simple, which may be readily manipulated, which is of suchcharacter that it will fit the contours of automobile bodies andfenders, and. in which the sanding belt may be tightened from time totime so as to take Other objects will appear the following description.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure.1 is a topplan view of my abradin tool;

igure 2 is a side elevation thereof;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary section on the line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a longitudinal, horizontal sectional view;

Figure 5 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view;

Figures 6 and 7 are plan views of the extensible members whereby thebelt rollers are shifted toward orifrom each other;

Figure 8 is a section on the line 8-8 of Figure 5.

Figure 9 is a fragmentary section of the belt or band.

Referring to these drawings, 10 designates the top plate of the housingor casing for the sander and 11 and 12 the side plates thereof. Theseside plates are connected to the top plate by means of screws 13 or inany other suitable manner. Mounted within one end of the housing formedof these side plates and the top plate is a shaft 14 mounted in suitablebearings in the side plates and more particularly mounted in a bearingin the plate 12, which shaft carries upon it the roller 15 flanged toengage an endless abrading belt or polishing belt 16. Coacting with thisroller 15 for the support of the belt is a movable roller 17 disposed atthe other end of the easing or housing. This is carried in hearings on,longitudinally shiftable yoke 18, shown .in Figure 7, this yoke having atongue 19.

in the course of Coacting with this movable yoke is a fixed element20shown in Figure 6 held in place upon one of the sides, as forinstance,the side wall 12 by means of nails or screws 21. This member 20is bifurcated at 22 to receive the tongue 19 and is cut away at 23.Extending through this member andthrough the front wall 12 is a shaft 24which is mounted in bearings in the fork 22, this shaft carrying upon,it the crank or eccentric 25 which bears a ainst the vertical wall 26 ofthe tongue 19. t will be obvious now that when the crank is turned tothe position shown in Figure 5, the yoke 18 will be shifted in adirection to carry the roller 17 away from the roller 15 to thus tightenup the belt and that by adjusting the crank 25 to any desired extentfrom a position inward of the axis of the shaft 24 to a position outwardof this axis that the band or belt 16 may be taken up to any extentrequired.

For the purpose of holding the crank 25 in any of its set positions, theshaft 24 is provided with the ratchet wheel 27 and with a key 28 wherebythe shaft may be rotated, this key being detachable. Coacting with theratchet 27 is the pawl 29 which engages the teeth of the ratchet Wheeland prevents reverse motion of the crank. Any suitable spring may beconnected to this ratchet, such a spring being indicated in dotted linesat 30 in Figure 2. Just below the ratchet wheel to one side thereof isdisposed a thumb screw 21 which, as illustrated in Figure 3, extendsentirely through the plate 12 and through the member 20 and has threadedengagement with the boss for the member 11. It will be noted that thecover plate 10 is in one piece with the side plate 12.

The side plate 12 is extended laterally as shown in Figure 1 to providea handle 32 through which the shaft 14 or a driving extension thereofdesignated 33 may project. This shaft may be coupled by any suitablemeans, as by means of the screwthreads 34 to a shaft leading from asource of power.

It will be noted that the under faces of the elements 18 and 20, whichelements in- The belt or band 16 is preferably of felt which isimpregnated with powdered emery.

or carborundum. Preferably, this belt is formed of hard felt impregnatedwith the abrading particles as heretofore stated and covered on itsouter face with muslin. The felt used should not be harder than anaverage inner tube and preferably it will be softer. This felt will notproperly hold the abrasive and hence is covered with muslin as shownmost clearly in Figure 9.

The muslin is coated with glue and while the glue is still wet, theabrasive particles are dusted thereon. As before remarked. the

belt 16 should be of felt as rubber is not of p value for this purposeinasmuch as it will soften and lose its shape.

, Preferably a handle designated generally 36 is.attached to the topmember 10 of the sander, as shown in Figures 1 and 2. This is necessarybecause of the fact that the sander gets too hot after using it for awhile and the handle 36 does away with the necessity of the workmanplacing his hands upon the body of the sander.

It will be noticed from Figure 5 that the curved ends of the members 19and 20, which curved ends confront the rollers 17 and 15, are so shapedthat the lower portions of the curved ends extend downward and inwardnearer and nearer to the bodies of these roll- '91s 15 and 17. Theseparts are so formed in order to temporarily hold any particles which maybe detached from the belt. Then when the belt is removed, any particleswhich may have settled in the spaces between the members 19 and 20 andthe adjacent rollers may be removed. If these particles could move overthe wheels 15 and 17 and get between these wheels of the belt, theywould tend to cut the belt and the wheels.

This sander is particularly adapted for use for smoothing ground andirregularities in sheet metal, parts of automobiles. Thus, for instance,a sheet metal part of an automobile which has been damaged is firsthammered out as flat as possible but this does not make it perfectlysmooth and after it has been hammered out, it is smoothed and theirregularities taken out by this sander. A round sander is used at thepresent time for this purpose but this will not bridge across adepression but if it gets in a depression it will tend to increase thedepth of the depression. My sander bridges across the de' pression'andbrings the metal on each side of the depression downward until thewholesheet is perfectly smooth. Insofar as I know,-no tool will produce thesame effect except a file, but the action of the file is slow at thebest and requires that the workman shall exert great strength.

One of the reasons why this sander is particularly effective is becausethe belt or band 16 moves beneath the blocks 19 and 20.which areperfectly straight for their entire length and which bear against theupper face of the I lower'flight of the belt. so that there can be nopossible give or sag to the belt. If there is anystretching in the belt,it can be readily taken up so as to keep the lower flight alwaysperfectly straight or smooth and bearing against the members 19 and 20.The belt or band 19 is also a very important part of my machine as Ihave tried many different types of belts or hands and find that itshould be of relatively heavy felt and the felt should be covered withmuslin as described.

'It will be understood, of course, that ball bearings may be used forthe shafts of the rollers and for the driving shaft 14 and that theseanti-friction means may be of any suitable character.

I claim 1. A sander orpolisher of the character described comprising acasing having a top and side walls, one wall of the casing having ahandle, a roller mounted within the casing and having a shaft extendingout through the casing and adapted to be connected to a source of power,a member mounted fixedly within the casing adjacent said roller, 2.second member mounted within the casing and opposed to the first namedmember and shiftable longitudinally, a roller supported by the secondnamed member and shiftable therewith, and an abrading belt extendingover both of'said rollers, the lower flight of said abrading elementextending beneath said members, both of said members having flat facesbearing against the lower flight of the abrading element, manuallyoperable means extending through one side wall of the casing forshifting the sliding member away from the fixed member to thus take upslack in the belt and means for holding said manually operable meansagainst reverse motion.

2. A polisher or abrader of the character described comprising a casinghaving side walls butbeing open on its lower face and ends, rollersmounted within the casing adj acent the opposite ends thereof andprojecting below the lower edges of the side walls of the casing, anabrading belt carried by said rollers, means for applying power to oneof said rollers, and members disposed within the casing and directlyabove the lower flight of the belt, the members constituting an abutmentagainst which the belt bears, said abutment having a straight lower faceextending from a position close to one roller to a position close to theother roller, said abutment having curved end faces ex tending downwardand outward toward their respective rollers, the end faces as theyextend downward extending nearer and nearer-to the correspondingrollers.

3. A sander or polisher of the character described comprising a casinghaving a top and detachable side walls, a roller mounted within one endof the casing and having a shaft extending out through the casing andadapted to be connected to a source of power, a member mounted fixedlywithin the casing adjacent said roller, said member being bifurcated, asliding member mounted within the casing and having a portion extendinginto the bifurcation of the first-named member, said-second named memberbeing forked at its outer end, a roller supported by said fork, anabrading band extending around both rollers and beneath the fixed andsliding elements, an eccentric carried by the side walls of the casingand within said fixed element and engaging the adjacent end of thesliding element, said eccentric being rotatably adjustable to shift thesliding element in a direction away from the first named roller to thustighten the band, the eccentric having a shaft extending out through aside wall, and a handle whereby it may be rotated, a ratchet carried bysaid shaft on the exterior of the casing, and. a pawl engaging saidratchet.

4. A sander or polisher of the character described comprising a casinghaving a top and two side walls detachably en aged with the top, thecasing thus formed emg open 1 at its ends and bottom, a shaft passingsignature.

through one of said side walls and adapted to be connected to a sourceof power for rotating it, a roller mounted upon said shaft, a fixedelement disposed between the side walls and disposed adjacent saidroller, a slidable element mounted in guides between the side wall andhaving sliding engagement with the first named element, and carrying aroller at its outer end, an abrading band assing around said rollers andbearing agalnst the under face of the sliding and fixed elements, meansfor shifting the sliding element away from the fixed element, said meanshaving an actuating shaft extending out through one side wall of thecasing and provided with a handle, a ratchet wheel mounted upon saidshaft, and a pawl mounted upon the exterior of the side wall andengaging said ratchet wheel.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my JOHN VICIC.

